Okay everyone. I'm currently in the process of redoing a 1964 Ranch home and budget isn't allowing the building of a bar in the backyard this year, however, I have started converting one of the bedrooms into my office/hobby room. This bedroom was formerly a childs bedroom and at some point they covered the plaster walls with panelling. Oh yea! On top of that they attached a vinyl wallpaper border that I have called every name in the book because it WILL NOT come off. I have decided to keep the panelling up because I'm guessing it was installed for a reason and I'm not ready to open that can of worms. LOL

Oh so beautiful...NOT!

Carpet gone and old non-working baseboard heat removed.

Painting has started. Before you even say anything about the ceiling, I just can't bring myself to paint the ceiling black in this old home. Instead I will be attempting a faux tapa cloth treatment.

Oh, and you notice the beautiful border is still there. I thought it really added a nice vintage touch to my future retreat don't you think? No? Ok, I will actually be covering that with pieces of knotty pine panelling that was removed from the kitchen and dining room. The pine will be the backdrop for the shelf that will go most the way around the room and will hold collectibles.

Oh and the reason I'm broke now and can't afford the outside planned bar? Well besides having to completely replace the roof, I also had to do something with a big hole in the ground that used to be a pool. This might not be tiki, but it sure is relaxing at the end of the day.

Gorgeous pool...jealous here. It looks like you will really do a great job on your office/Tiki space. Good idea on painting, covering over the border and placing a mug shelf around the room. Shop thrift stores, garage sales and flea markets...you will find great items that won't further drain your wallet. Have fun.
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Looks like it is all shaping up nicely, including the landscaping. The nice thing about "Tiki" is that no one (other than Spike) does it all at once You just do what you can when you can and you "finish" it over the next 20 years.
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Thanks for the words of encouragement. I'm really trying to reuse stuff that I have removed from other areas of the home.

I have been collecting things for YEARS and have never had anywhere to display them so hopefully I'll be able to finally enjoy them in the kind of setting I have dreamed of.

The last few days I have really been working on that wood floor. I think it has some great character and I'm glad I didn't strip it down. Hard to believe it was buried under ugly carpet. After a day of scrubbing it by hand and applying almond oil, I laid down a couple good coats of liquid wax. Wish I had my mom's old Kirby Floor Buffer. That thing could polish poop. HAHA

When I was working in the kitchen, I had to remove an old cabinet to make a place for the fridge. I kept the cabinet and have now installed it on the wall in my office to hold collectibles or such. Just needs repainted or covered with something.

Remember that floral border I was bitching about? Well it has started to disappear. Today I started the job of cutting the old pine panelling and reusing it. What ya think?

One last thing for today. While I was in Big Lots I saw some bamboo beach mats for $5. Knowing that money was tight and also knowing that I could surely use some bamboo matting somewhere, I picked up a couple. I attached one to the door. I didn't know the color was so close to the wall color. You can hardly see it, but I think I can trim it out and perhaps attach a piece of plywood and some tiki artwork and have a really interesting focal point.

that's it for this update. I hope tomorrow to finish the panelling around the top of the walls and perhaps install some shelving.

Any suggestions on what I might do to hide the unsitely self brackets? I thought maybe camo with some bamboo and rope. The pine is really giving the room kind of a nautical feel, but maybe that is just me.

Here are a few updates on my space. I am having a hard time deciding something and maybe y'all can help me out. I originally painted the window frame and the door frames that "Dried Chamomile" color because I didn't want the room too dark as it isn't a bar, but a place where I will be doing some crafting. however, after putting up some other trim and some shelves, I'm thinking that the trim would look better painted the dark color of the shelves. Thoughts?

To start things off, I removed the old white (painted many times) louvered bi-fold doors and replaced them with some nice wooden ones that used to belong to a closet in the den that I'm turning into a built-in wet bar. The wood looks much better and I don't have to paint it. YEA!

The original plan was to add shelving all the way around the room, but I wanted to break it up and I can always add extra if needed. This first shelf was originally part of a large shelf (12" deep) that ran the entire length of the living room. I cleaned it up, repainted it and hung it up. The paint color is called "Clove" and I'm really liking it. It seems to change from a really dark green to a deep chocolate brown depending on where the sun is coming from.

On the opposite side of the room I ran a small 6" deep shelf all the way across the room and bent it around the corner. In that corner will be a fishtank. The shelf is just deep enough to accomodate mugs and some other fun things. I couldn't resist putting a couple things up there to see how it looked.

Finally, I bought some "strapping" from Home Depot and painted it the same Clove color. This became my baseboard and will hopefully soon have either bamboo or reed fencing resting on top. It is hard to beat $.89/8 foot board, especially when it doesn't have to look fancy. There is some small bits of white that isn't covered by the new base, but it will be covered eventually.

Taking pictures is really hard in this room as the outside wall has a large window and I don't have any covering for that window yet. Hopefully this week I'll have a bamboo shade to block some of the light so I can take a decent picture.

I have not decided yet on a ceiling treatment. Was going to do faux Tapa, but I'm not getting that vibe in this space now. Will have to keep thinking.

This first foldable book stand reminded me of an A-frame so I had to have it. I need to find a tiki carving to put in the opening.

The next bookcase is also foldable. I don't have a bunch of tiki books, but I'm working on that. For now he'll hold a couple things until I decide exactly where it is going.

Nothing else new to report other than I have packed up most of my mugs and they are going to the new house tomorrow, but I don't think I'll have time to unpack it. I started work today on the wet-bar in the den. WOOHOO!!

Thanks Mike. That is one of my lucky finds. It was from a consignment shop and the lady only wanted $25 for it. She was really sweet but just couldn't imagine why someone would want that "old thing". It needs a little love to fix some of the banding on it. The frame is bamboo, but the shelving (and the back of the shelves) is pressed tin stained to look like wood and bamboo. It would look even better with a nice copy of "BOT" on it, but nothing in my price range has shown up. If anyone has an extra copy they aren't wanting I would happily give it a good home.

Love the pool space, that will be a great outdoor tiki retreat one day! Very clever way to cover up the border. You're on your way to a rocking tiki space, I can tell. Keep the pictures coming, many of us love to follow the progress. (I know I do!)